Community Advice Hub

The design and delivery of the social security system is the biggest driver towards food banks nationally and locally at our food banks on Wirral.

People have been telling us that they wish there had been more face-to-face advice and support with this and some were not even aware of what services were on offer.

We are campaigning for three objectives within our campaign:

• To improve communications to improve access to advice
• For more advisers to be available on a face to face basis in a community hub drop-in setting
• More funding for advice services

Community Advice Hub

We helped open a brand-new Community Advice Hub  in the heart of Birkenhead to offer free, face-to-face support on money matters – from benefits and debt to energy bills and more.

Location: Liberty Centre, 7 Whetstone Lane, Birkenhead, CH41 2QS – Charring Cross area next to the pram shop.
Opening hours: Every Thursday: 9:30am – 12:30pm

What is the Community Advice Hub?

Set up by Wirral Foodbank’s Community Campaigning team, the hub is part of a wider effort to tackle poverty at a local level by making it easier for people to access the advice and support they need. It’s a welcoming drop-in service designed to help residents get information, advice, and practical support – before money worries turn into crisis.

Who will be there to help?

The hub brings together trusted local organisations:

• Citizens Advice Wirral
• Energy Projects Plus
• Wirral Change
• CAP Wirral
• Community Connectors from Involve Northwest
• Wirral Ways to recovery (first Thursday of the month)
• Reach Out employment support (first Thursday of the month)

Whether you’re struggling with debt, confused about a high bill, affected by changes to Universal Credit, or just not sure where to turn – you can pop in for a free, confidential, and non-judgemental chat with a trained adviser.

Why it matters

This service is aimed at giving people access to life-changing advice before issues spiral into crisis. For example. at Wirral Foodbank’s Foodbank Plus service, delivered by Citizens Advice Wirral on behalf of Wirral Foodbank, offers advice and support to people who have used the food bank and often successfully results in people not having to return to the food bank. Therefore, we know this approach works and now we want to have that offer to people further upstream so that they can access advice and support in a comfortable environment before it reaches crisis point.

No appointment needed – just drop in.

The hub is open to anyone living on the Wirral who would benefit from friendly, face-to-face advice and support.

Communications

We have created a leaflet to advertise local money advice services. If you would like some copies please print from the pdf link or let us know!

We have worked with Wirral Council to advise on their paper leaflet about getting wider support in the area including housing support and mental health etc. We pushed for these communications to be non-digital to increase accessibility and reach the people who need it most.

Why are we campaigning on this?

A large number of people had problems contacting the right person who could support them. Many feel like they have to jump through hoops, feel that people have no real understanding of the difficulties they are experiencing and have to contact multiple organizations and wait on busy phone lines.

To be on universal credit, or other forms of social security payments, you have to be organsied, need a phone and access to the internet. We speak to many people who are struggling to cope generally and some do not have access to the internet. People with complex needs and those who are vulnerable are asking for face to face support and we want to help them access that.

Imagine if your phone breaks, and you’re living off £93 per week, you have to go to a hospital appointment, afford food and perhaps look for a job. You cannot afford to fix your phone and therefore cannot organize appointments. This is why we need more local drop-ins based in warm welcoming open spaces that people will feel comfortable approaching. This is why we need to clearly inform people about how and where to access this support and to encourage people to ask for help.

We are currently exploring ways to improve access to advice and support, especially for those on universal credit. Let’s offer face to face drop-ins based in local community centres and let’s make sure people know about it and feel comfortable to ask for help. Let’s help people navigate this complicated system, let’s create a service designed for the people who need it most and ensure that they get the support that they need.

We are hoping this will open up access to other services across the region. Many of these services are working hard to tackle many of the other reasons that bring people to the foodbank. We want to ensure that everyone knows about what is out there and can access these services.